Jack stands stiffly, taking everything in. Outside light comes through a window with its wooden shutters pulled back. Below the window stands a black walnut table with a book on top. Beside the book is a pair of tan cotton pants. White T-shirt. Boxers. Gray Sanuk slip-on shoes. All nicely folded and stacked. The cherrywood twin bed in the corner is made with what Jack recognizes as Egyptian cotton sheets, with a small blue blanket folded at the foot.

Beside the table, on a stand of the same wood and design, sits a white porcelain basin. Below the basin are towels and washrags. The room has rock walls and cobblestone floors. The air is deliciously cool. His fingers tremble, touching the shoes. Lifting them, he sees they are tens—his size. Laying them beside the garments, he picks up the pants. They have a forty-inch waist, thirty-inch inseam. His size.

He feels stiff getting out of his smelly, ragged clothing. His bones pop and creak. Muscles are tender, aching as though they had taken a beating. After splashing water onto his face, he washes his arms. Chest. His balls. Ass. Thighs. Knees. Shins. On the windowsill, he finds a bar of soap. Lathers up. How the water feels is beyond his powers of expression. Possibly orgasmic. As he washes off the days of filth, his eyes begin to tear. And before he knows it, he is washing and bawling like a baby. Something he never thought he would take for granted again: a bath. The aching seems to ease with the pleasure he derives from such a simple action.

Soon, even the rinse water appears black with filth. At last, toweling off, putting on the new garments, he feels as if he might break down at any moment from the emotions that swarm him. He feels elated, as if streams of liquid light are flowing through his veins.

Outside the window stand men wearing black wraparound sunglasses, with automatic weapons slung over their torsos. There is a courtyard planted with flowers and shrubs, all sprouting and healthy. A thick stone wall surrounds the area. It looks to be six feet high, maybe a bit more. Jack wonders where he is. What is in store for him? Why is he here?